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Definition
In animals living with a hierarchical organization, alpha is the highest ranking individual, also called dominant.
Introduction
Social animals frequently organize themselves in dominance hierarchies. In this hierarchical organization, individuals have different access to resources. The highest animal in the rank is the alpha and their position is maintained through agonistic interactions, so the alpha is the individual who wins fights over all others (Cafazzo et al. 2010). Male, female, or both (normally a reproductive couple) can be alphas, depending on the social organization of the specie.
Normally, alpha animal is the individual in the group that monopolizes most of the resources as food, mates, spatial location, and territory (see examples below). Alpha position can be attained through aggression and intimidation or collaborating and with the support of subordinates (Sapolsky 2005).
Who Will Become the Alpha?
Social and physical characteristics will...
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References
Cafazzo, S., Valsecchi, P., Bonanni, R., Natoli, E., Evolutiva, B., & Usberti, G. P. A. (2010). Dominance in relation to age, sex, and competitive contexts in a group of free-ranging domestic dogs. Behavioral Ecology, 21(3), 443–455. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arq001.
Creel, S. (2001). Social dominance and stress hormones. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 16(9), 491–497.
Hemelrijk, C. K. (2000). Towards the integration of social dominance and spatial structure. Animal Behaviour, 59(5), 1035–1048. https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.2000.1400.
Kochhann, D., Campos, D. F., & Val, A. L. (2015). Experimentally increased temperature and hypoxia affect stability of social hierarchy and metabolism of the Amazonian cichlid Apistogramma agassizii. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, 190, 54–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2015.09.006.
Sapolsky, R. M. (2005). The influence of social hierarchy on primate health. Science, 308, 648–652. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1106477.
Whiteman, E. A., & Côté, I. M. (2004). Dominance hierarchies in group-living cleaning gobies: Causes and foraging consequences. Animal Behaviour, 67(2), 239–247. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2003.04.006.
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Kochhann, D. (2018). Alpha. In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_683-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_683-1
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